Symptom
A washer not filling is a fault where a few safe checks genuinely resolve a good proportion of cases. Before anything internal is suspected, the water has to get to the machine, and that path starts at the taps behind it.
Beyond the supply, the variations matter. No water at all, a fill that takes far longer than it used to, and a machine that fills on only one temperature setting are three different problems wearing similar clothing.
Both supply taps behind the machine need to be fully open. They can be knocked partly closed when a machine is moved, and a half-open tap produces exactly the slow-fill complaint people describe.
The hoses themselves need to be free of kinks. A hose crushed against a wall when the machine was pushed back restricts flow in a way that is invisible from the front.
Where the supply hoses meet the machine there are usually small mesh screens that catch sediment and grit before it reaches the valve. Over years, and particularly with mineral-rich water, they can clog and slow the fill dramatically.
This is one of the more common causes of a gradually slowing fill rather than a sudden failure. A technician can inspect and clean them as part of a diagnosis.
If the machine fills with cold but not hot, or the reverse, that is unusually informative. The inlet valve has a separate path for each supply, so a missing temperature typically means the tap on that side is closed, that side's screen is blocked, or that side's solenoid has failed.
It also rules out a great deal. A machine filling perfectly well on one side clearly has power, a working control command and an open door circuit.
If both taps are open, the hoses are clear and no water arrives at all, the possibilities move inside the machine: the inlet valve, the pressure sensing that tells the control how full the drum is, the door lock circuit that must be satisfied first, or the control itself.
Some machines also refuse to fill if they detect existing water in the drum, so a drainage problem can present as a fill problem.
Do not disconnect hoses under pressure, dismantle the valve or open the cabinet. If the supply-side checks come back clear, the remaining work is a technician's.
Describe what the machine is doing and we will tell you what it is likely to involve before anyone comes out.
(505) 594-7911You can also return to the Albuquerque washer repair homepage for an overview of the service.